EVEN before Sir Alex Ferguson’s refusal to speak to the media after his team’s defeat at Liverpool, it was my intention to write this week about this impasse.

Many of you would not agree with me, but I’ve always defended his right not to be forced to speak to the BBC, just because the Premier League has a contract with broadcast rights holders which says football managers must make themselves available for post-match interviews.

This is all to do with Ferguson’s long-running feud with the Beeb over a documentary about his football agent son, after which he vowed never to speak to them again. That is his prerogative.

However, not only would I not ask the Manchester United manager to reconsider, I would ban him from post-match comments.

I’d like to ban every football manager from speaking to the media unless they pledged not to criticise the referee.

Whatever happened to that respect campaign?

It’s totally understandable that managers are incandescent about vital decisions in the immediate aftermath of a game – and that is why they should not be subjected to microphones before having to cool off and reflect – with the aid of video evidence and a nice glass of claret while they’re taking stock.

We all know Fergie’s a bad loser, so it’s no wonder he doesn’t see Rooney’s elbow as an offensive weapon, and that he suspects skullduggery if he doesn’t get a referee he approves of.

So why do we bother interviewing him at all?

Anyone with the effrontery to ask an awkward question gets the evil eye, and in the wake of a win we just get eulogies of Rooney, Berbatov, etc.

Wenger, we know, has selective vision too, even Mick McCarthy one of the most honest members of the profession, had a go at Mark Halsey for ruling out a Wolves goal for a foul on the Spurs keeper, and virtually every press conference these days is dominated by criticism of the officials rather than an appraisal of the match.

I can’t remember the last time a manager said something interesting on Match of the Day, and as for radio ‘phone-ins they’d be 100 per cent more listenable if callers were told they’d be cut off at the first mention of a bad refereeing decision costing their team the game.

My ban may sound revolutionary, but I’d rather hear a coherent manager on a Sunday morning settee, after a good night’s sleep and a period of contemplation, than the raging, smoke-coming-out-of-nostrils-and-ears version on a Saturday night.

RAY WILKINS is a lovely chap who has been appallingly treated by Chelsea.

He was a studio guest for Sky’s Soccer Sunday at the weekend, assessing Liverpool v Manchester United and Wolves v Tottenham Hotspur in the company of Graeme Souness.

By and large they spoke good sense – apart from Ray’s astonishing revelation that ‘Defoe has two feet. One right and one left!’

We all know what he meant.

More meaningfully Ray asserted that this season’s Premier League is the best ever.

His grounds for this sweeping statement were based on the clubs near the bottom of the table being more competitive and attractive than ever before.

Certainly Blackpool, West Brom, Wolves and West Ham have all entertained us, and even Wigan who are the new incumbents of bottom spot, are capable of beating the best on their day.

Birmingham City are in the bottom three and have just won the Carling Cup and qualified for Europe which says it all.

In recent years the Championship has been arguably more interesting than the Premier League, but this time round it’s fair to say Wilkins has got it right, and even Sunderland in eighth place could still be relegated!

ENGLAND’S World Cup cricket campaign is a real old roller-coaster.

A dodgy victory over the Dutch, a heart-stopping tie with India, a shambles against Ireland and another nail-biter against South Africa.

Whatever next against Bangladesh on Friday?

It’s fun following it, that’s for sure, and I do feel for those who are putting their bodies on the line after the most gruelling winter’s schedule in history.

Strauss, Bell, Prior and Trott have had something like three days off in five months.

Unfortunately, like all modern sport, criticism comes with the territory, but I found it interesting that Graeme Swann bridled at ex-players having a go.

Unlike most sports, cricket has a media circus comprised almost exclusively of former Test players (e.g. Gower, Botham, Willis, Lloyd, Boycott etc, etc) and you would have thought the mutual respect would have been automatic – but apparently not so.

My bet is that Swann will move into the media the moment his playing career is over, and he’ll become yet another poacher turned gamekeeper. That’s just the way it is these days.